Fixed in the Shadows
by DestroyShelbeyy
Summary: Meet Skylar Hourani, a world-class hacker with a mean swing. Skylar was drafted to join The Avengers* to fight for justice and to protect the world. Skylar's "weapons" include kick-boxing, samurai sword and intriquite use of pistols. Skylar uses the anger from her rough past to fuel her through the epic battles she faces. Read to learn more.
1. Chapter 1

I slowly raise the knife. I can slightly see my reflection in the blade. I do not like what I see, but that is not going to stop me. The man I'm holding by the neck squirms, trying to get free. He begs for mercy. He begs for me to release him. He tells me he will never hurt another woman again. I will show no mercy. I lower the knife to his neck and just as I start to slit his throat, everything goes black.

I sit up in bed with a jolt and my eyes fly open. I suck in breath with a "hugh!" noise. My heart is pounding. I'm soaked in sweat. Another nightmare. I suddenly hear movement over to my left. Boots against carpet. It is the faintest sound but I can still pick it up. I notice the window is open, letting the cool night air in. Someone has breached the perimeter.

I slowly slide my hand under my pillow. I grip a small throwing knife in my hand, getting ready to attack. I count to three and then lunge out of my bed and onto the man in all black over by my dresser. My body wraps him from behind. I disarm him and then flip him head-first onto his back. I twist his arm and hold the knife against his throat.

"WHO ARE YOU? WHO SENT YOU?" I scream in his face. He just makes gurgling noises.

There is a knock at the door. I kick him in the face, knocking him unconcious. I grab his pistol and stalk over to the door. I look through the peep hole. Blackness. I grip the door handle and fling it open, pointing the gun at whoever is there. In the doorway is a man in a suit and three men in all black, matching the unconcious guy on my floor.

"Who the hell are you?" I ask, pointing the pistol right at his head. I could easily shoot him right inbetween the eyes.

"I'm with SHIELD," he says plainly, flashing his identification.

"What do you want?" I ask, lowering the firearm.

"We need you to come in."

I invite the men in. I make tea for me and coffee for the gentlemen. The man in the suit sits across from me at my table, ready to explain everything to me. I'm still in my pajamas. I'm much too tired to change.

"So what should I call you?" I ask, sipping my tea and sitting back casually. The light above the table causes dark shadows to cast down the agent's face.

"Agent Lynch," he answers. "And what should I call you?"

"Skylar would be fine, please. I'm not into all that Agent Hourani crap." I smile.

"Right."

"So, who broke the world this time?" I ask nonchalantly.

"His name is Loki. He's... not from around here. He's from a world called Asgard. It's-"

I put my hand up, silencing him. "I know what Asgard is. What did this Loki do?" I wave my hand.

"He stole the tesseract." He hands me a high-tech tablet with all the information. "But I'm guessing you already know what that is."

"Yes, I do, actually. It's an energy cube that could supply Earth with unlimited sustainable energy. It was found by Howard Stark when he was looking for Captain America up in the Arctic Circle." My eyes scan the information in front of me. "Wow, SHIELD has really made a mess. The tesseract is gone along with one of your best agents, Hawkeye, and an anstrophysicist. Tisk tisk." I shake my hand and bite my lip.

"We know. That's why we need your help."

"What do you need me to do? I don't see how computer hacking can be used in this situation."

"Well, we were hoping you could possibly find Loki by finding his computer network. You're the best. If anyone can do it, you can. Also, we can see you are a very capable fighter." He gestures to the man I took down, who is now sitting on my bed with an ice pack. He gives me a pleading look.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that." My shoulders hunch and then I sit up straight. "Well, that is true. I am the best." I smirk and flip my hair, jokingly. "But I don't know if I can do it." I toss the tablet on the table. "I'll only be able to do it if he's hooked up to a network. If he is and even if it's hidden with the most advanced software, I'll still be able to find it. I've created programs just for stuff like this."

"I'm going to ignore the fact you're breaking a number of laws. I think it's time for you to get packed up. Welcome to SHIELD, Ms. Hourani."


	2. Chapter 2

When Agent Lynch and I land on the SHIELD aircraft carrier, I gather my computer and exit the plane. Some agents take care of the rest of my luggage. The sun is shining bright so I put on my black wayfarer sunglasses. I look around at all the people readying the ship for take off. I can feel adrenaline and excitment run through my veins. It feels really great to get back into this secret agent stuff. I've secretly missed it.

I join the crowd as we go inside the helicarrier. I walk to the control room where I see dozens of agents working at their stations. I also see Nick Fury on his platform, overseeing his crew just like a captain on a ship. I then spot Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff and Dr. Bruce Banner talking with Agent Coulson.

"Everyone gather in," Fury says, gesturing for the five of us to come closer. "Good afternoon," he says to everyone.

"Good afternoon, sir," Steve says in a deeper voice than I was expecting. His blond hair is combed over. He's wearing a brown and off-white plaid shirt with tight brown pants. He looks good. I can't help but check out his ass.

"I'm going to be brief and then you all can get aquainted. It is obvious that Loki has taken the tesseract and we need it back. Dr. Banner, we'll need you to find it from the gamma radiation it emits." He looks at me. "Agent Hourani, we'll need you to take a crack at finding Loki through his computer network."

"Will do, sir," I say in a stern voice."

Fury continues. He looks at Steve. "Cap, you'll be on standby. Once we find him, we'll need you and Agent Romanoff to capture him. Everyone clear on that?"

"Yes, sir," we all say in unison.

"Then get to work!" He booms and then turns to get back to his station.

I walk toward Agent Romanoff. "Hello, Natasha," I say with an unpleasant smile.

"Hello, Skylar," she answers in distaste. "I still see that you're working the purple hair."

"You bet," I say. I put my hands on my hips and stand in a position with some serious attitude. "I'm really looking forward to working with you again." Yeah, not really.

"Oh, please. It's always a joy working with you," she says sarcastically. The slender redhead then walks aways. "Follow me, Dr. Banner. I'll show you your lab."

The Black Widow and I have never been on good terms. She hates me and I love the fact she hates me. I think it's both hilarious and pathetic. I don't know if she's just jealous. But what is there to be jealous of? We have very different skill sets. And it's not like I've ever been after Hawkeye. I know they're secretly in love with each other.

I follow the group. I end up standing next to Steve.

"Steve Rogers," he says, holding out his hand with a beautiful, kind smile.

"Skylar Hourani," I say, returning the handshake and smile.

"Are you a SHIELD agent as well?" He asks.

"Oh, no. I'm just... being borrowed by them. I do kind of freelance work with different sections of the government. I just kind of do my own thing."

"And you work with computers?" He asks, genuinely curious.

"You bet. I can hack any computer anywhere. I'm sort of the best there is."

"I don't know anything about computers," Steve chuckles. "That's kind of the problems with waking up in the 21st century."

"Oh, I imagine," I giggle. "But I'm sure you're a much better fighter than I am. I mean, you are the legendary Captain America. You kick ass." I'm completely glowing from talking to me childhood hero.

"Yeah, I do alright with the whole fighting and military stuff. I really missed it. It's been awhile since I've done anything like this."

Steve and I continue to make small talk the rest of the afternoon as I search for Loki on my HP laptop. I really enjoy conversating with him. He is even more interesting than I could have ever imagine. I'm having a complete fangirl attack on the inside. I'm shocked I can even speak.

Later on, Steve and Natasha leave to catch Loki. They are also joined by Iron Man and Thor. I am so glad I missed that. They found him in Germany. I try not to leave the country if I can. I firmly believe that The United States of America is the greatest country on Earth. I would much rather be on the helicarrier on my computer.

"Thor, Tony, this is Agent Skylar Hourani and Dr. Bruce Banner," Steve introduces. "Skylar, Bruce, this is Tony Stark and Thor of Asgard."

"Very nice to meet you," I say to Tony as I shake his hand. I then look to Thor. His eyes widen.

Thor stomps toward me. He grabs some of my hair. "Are you an enchantress?" He asks in awe. "I've never seen locks of this hue!"

"Um, no," I say, pulling away. "I just dye it this color. I'm completely human." I give him a weak smile. "Your hair is pretty nice itself." I reach for his shoulder-length blond fringe. This guy is even more off than Cap.

"Very well. Nice to meet you, young lady. I am Thor Odinson, Prince of Asgard." He takes my hand, kissing it, as he bows. I blush. I then admire his arms. They're huge! Getting punched by him is probably like having a brick thrown at your face!

"So you're here to help your brother?" I ask, still staring at his enormous biceps.

"Yes, I am. He is lost and definitely needs my help."

"Well, good luck." Bruce adds in. "That guy's mind is a bag full of cats. You can just smell crazy on him."

"Loki may be without reason but he is my brother and I care how you speak of him," Thor says.

"He killed 80 people in two days," Natasha adds.

"He's adopted," Thor says, looking away.

"Psht!" I snort, trying to be quiet. I'm gonna love working with this guy! This is like the greatest group ever assembled. I'm going to have so much fun. From Natasha giving me the stink eye to Tony's arrogance to Cap's unbeatable lack of knowledge of the things going on in this time period. This truly is the dream team.

"Loki is dangerous," Nick Fury states, coming out of nowhere. Everyone turns to look at him. "We need to find that tesseract before he uses it to do whatever it is he wants to do. Now get back to work." He leaves the doorway.

"What?" I ask under my breath. That last statement really didn't make any sense. I get back to my computer. "That guy really is a spy. Coming out of nowhere like that." My job is not over yet. I still have to try to find that damn Rubiks cube of light.

"I just don't get it," Tony says. "Why would Loki just let us take him?"

"You're right," Steve says. "This was definitely too easy. Thor, what do you think?"

"I am not sure. My brother... he is obsessed with power. The want to rule clouds his judgement of what he's actually doing. He will do anything to take over Earth."

"Well he'll need help to do that," I say from my desk.

"What about his sceptar. It may be magical but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon. Maybe he's going to use that," Steve gestures to the sticks on the desk across the room.

"That sceptar will summon an army called the

Chitauri. They not of a world like Asgard. They come from a deep, dark world on the other side of space. They are ugly and horrible creatures," Thor explains.

I open up a new tab on Internet Explorer and begin searching about the Chitauri. Most of it is just mythology but I know most of it is actually real. Just as people believe Thor and Loki and Asgard are just myths. There are so many things that are real that people believe are just stories. Anyone would be surprised how many supernatural things are real.

"We have some war ahead of us," I say, absorbing the information on my screen with wide eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

"There's something going on here," Tony says, stepping away from his computer screen. "Why did Fury bring us in now?"

"Maybe he didn't trust us. Or maybe he just wanted to keep the whole tesseract thing quiet," Steve suggests.

"Who knows what he wants to do with the tesseract," Bruce mumbles with a shrug, focused on the screen in front of him.

"I'll know soon. JARVIS has been running a virus that will soon uncover the inner secrets of SHIELD and what they want with the tesseract." Tony holds up his phone.

"Psht. Oh, please," I scoff under my breath, still typing away on my laptop.

"Excuse me, is there something you would like to say?" Tony asks, annoyed.

I look up from my computer. "You may be able to get into SHIELD's confidential files but there is one problem with your program."

"And what's that?" Tony puts his hands on his hips.

"SHIELD is going to detect that virus as soon as it hits those files. But if you're a world-class hacker like myself, you can slide right past all the detection stuff and get right to the files." I turn my computer towards the billionaire.

"You're so bad," Steve whispers to me.

"I know," I wink at him.

Bruce and Tony step away from their screens to look at mine. They both scan the page, absorbing the information.

"SHIELD is using the tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction. It's called Phase Two. They've been running the operation for quite some time now," I summarize.

"Of course," Bruce says under his breath.

"Well, this is just great!" Tony exclaims, backing away from the computer and throwing his arms up. "I'm definitely going to have a talk with Fury about this one."

"Well, I'm not sticking around for that. I'll see you guys later." I shut my laptop and put it in my messenger bag. I stand up and move towards the door.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Steve asks, standing up himself.

"No, that's okay. I'm just gonna chill. Maybe take a shower. I'll see you later." I wave and I'm out the door. "Time to say hello to Loki," I whisper to myself.

I pull out my phone. I open the blueprints to the aircraft carrier and I run a GPS program to find where the SHIELD agents are keeping Loki. I weave through corridors, hiding at any sight of a human being. I maneuver deep inside the ship.

Finally, I arrive at the cage. I shut down the cameras so the SHIELD agents do not know where I am. I see that Thor has finally left his post. He has practically not moved from this room since he arrived on the helicarrier. I move slowly toward Loki. His back is to me.

Suddenly, he turns around. "Why, hello there," he says with a sinister smile.

"Hello, Loki," I say, tilting my head back, trying to stay casual. I can't let him figure anything out. I need to keep my poker face up. I need to hide the emotion. Emotion is weakness.

"Which one are you? Ah, yes, the computer hacker. And also... the outcast." He folds his hands together. "Agent Barton showed me all of your files. You've had a very interesting past."

"I guess you could say that," I answer coolly. "I'm sure yours is just as interesting or maybe even more so. Being adopted and a frost giant and all." I cross my arms. That's a point for me.

His smile fades and his brows furrow together. I have struck a nerve. "How did you..."

"I have my ways." My eyes squint. There is silence. Finally, I say, "You're not going to win." I clear my throat. I cross my arms and walk a few feet. Casual. Yeah.

"And why is that?" Loki asks.

Silence.

Loki chuckles. "You are a very resourceful woman. I like that. Maybe I should have recruited you as well." He wags his finger at me and smiles once again. "But enough about my past. What about yours? I sense much power in you. But something... not entirely human. Are the members of your team aware of your situation?"

"Not at all. It's my business, not theirs." I cock my head back.

"What happened? What made you this way? Tell me. I'm so curious." His voice becomes slick. He takes a few steps closer to the glass.

I decide to play this out and I take a step forward. "Alright, fair enough." I clear my throat once again. "My parents died when I was eight years old. I bounced around from foster homes. Some of them were very abusive." I gesture with my hands and take a breath.

"How tragic," Loki comments with no actual remorse in his voice.

"When I was fourteen, my foster parents sold me to this man. They were meth heads that needed a fix. So this man takes me to a remote building out in the middle of nowhere. He kept me there for six months." I look down. My heart starts to pound at the memories. Sweat begins to bead on my top lip.

"What happened there?" Loki asks, fully interested.

I walk closer to Loki. "He did experiments on me." I meet Loki's eyes. "Every day for six months he did whatever he wanted. Every day for six months he raped me. Every day he played out his sick fantasies on me!" My voice grows louder, fueled by anger. "Every day for six months he beat me! Every day for six months he tortured me! He would hook me up to these machines! He sent gamma rays through my body!" I look back down at the floor. I rub my forehead and run my fingers through my thick hair. "I don't even know what all he did to me."

"How did you escape?" Loki whispers.

I meet his eyes again. "I'll tell you how I escaped." I move closer. I'm now just inches away from the glass. In a calm voice, I tell him the rest of the story. "One day, I discovered my power. I became so full of anger. My nails grew into what looked like claws." I raise my hand, fingers curled. "I cut myself free and I jumped on top of the man." I begin yelling. "I jumped on him and I ripped him to shreds!" I start gesturing and making the movements. "Blood was flying everywhere! I just kept cutting deep into him! I wanted to make him feel all the pain he had given me! I wanted to destroy him!" My breathing has become heavy. When I look back at Loki, I see my reflection in the glass. The irises of my eyes are white.

Loki's eyes are wide in shock. His jaw drops but then he quickly closes it once he realizes it's open. He purses his lips.

My voice quiets to a whisper. "When he stopped screaming, I stood up. I stared at his lifeless body, satisfied. I then looked up and saw my reflection. I was soaked in blood. My eyes were glowing white. My brain was swimming with adrenaline. I then left him there. I left him to rot like the piece of garbage he was."

"That's a very sad story. So riveting! But..." Loki breathes.

"That story is the reason why you are going to fail. That story will be your demise." I press up against the glass and smash my fist into it.

"I don't think..." He interrupts.

"You may be powerful, but I guarantee I wield more power that you can ever imagine. And I will kill you if I have to. You will not win." I growl at him and then turn away.

I storm out of the room and get a couple feet when my knees buckle and I fall to the ground. I lean up against the wall. I blink the sweat out of my eyes. I cover my face with my hands as I begin to cry. My body trembles as I release soft sobs. I stay there until I can cry no longer. I then stand; clean myself up, and return to my fellow teammates like nothing ever happened.


End file.
